-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- As Halloween approaches , my 10-year-old daughter is getting excited about choosing a scary costume for trick-or-treating and the prospect of a bucket full of sweets .

I usually accompany her , but this year has stirred memories of a genuinely spooky encounter , re-awakened by a recent assignment for CNN .

The British Film Institute is about to release the full 144-minute version of The Shining -- 24 minutes more than previously seen in Europe . If you 're of a nervous disposition , the thought of subjecting yourself to additional minutes of what many regard as the most terrifying movie ever made might be a less than appealing one . But true horror fans are licking their lips in anticipation .

The film -- directed by the brilliant Stanley Kubrick in 1980 -- is now regarded as a masterclass in movie-making but at the time it was largely received with the scratching of heads and a mood of disappointment .

Kubrick adapted the film from the book written by horror novelist Stephen King -- and that 's where my connection begins .

In 1974 King and his wife stayed at the majestic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park , a small town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains . The hotel was due to shut down for the winter season and the Kings were the only guests in the place , echoing round the long empty corridors and silent ballroom . By the time they checked out of Room 217 the next morning -- Halloween - King had the bones of his chilling story .

Stanley Kubrick treasures on display

I visited Estes Park 34 years later and decided to take my family to the Stanley Hotel .

Although Kubrick 's film was shot at the Timberline Lodge in Oregon -LRB- exteriors -RRB- and Elstree studios near London -LRB- interiors -RRB- the resemblance is uncanny .

Our guide told us the hotel was inhabited by a number of ghosts , sometimes appearing in photographs as balls of energy . The warning was met with a mixture of giggles and suspiciously raised eyebrows .

We were about to shuffle along another carpeted corridor when my wife gave a cry of surprise : `` Look at this ! ''

We gathered round her camera to see an image of the staircase on which were three orbs of light -- different sizes , different opacities , different to anything I 'd ever seen before . They had n't appeared to the naked eye nor had they appeared on anyone else 's camera .

During the rest of the tour our group achieved a degree of minor celebrity by repeating the feat at several other locations within the hotel . There was one on the wood-panelled ceiling of the ballroom and later , when we checked back through all the pictures , we discovered that another had appeared on the photograph we took of the reception before meeting or tour guide .

The images were taken in different places , with very different lighting and of the 200 photographs we took during our holiday no orbs appeared on any other photograph -- nor indeed on any photograph ever taken on that camera before or since . We were amused and baffled but promptly forgot about them when we returned to London .

This month , covering the story of the extended version of The Shining came my way and while researching it I remembered the photographs .

So when I went to interview the film 's executive producer Jan Harlan at his home in the ancient English city of St. Albans , an hour 's drive north of London , I took them with me . He talked eloquently about Kubrick and his movie .

`` It was a film that shows nothing but ambiguity . And this is what Stanley wanted , '' he said .

I showed him the pictures . He seemed amused but like me could offer no plausible explanation . They too remain ambiguous and I 'm happy for them to remain so .

But for some fans of the film , ambiguity leaves a void which must be filled with conspiracy theories . Some claim to have discovered hidden messages about anything from the Holocaust to the plight of Native Americans , and to Kubrick 's apparent use of the film to confess to helping the U.S. government fabricate the Apollo moon landings .

`` It 's amazing how this film invited speculation and fantasy in the audience . Which is good , '' said Harlan . `` It 's a great compliment to Kubrick that people go into orbit about it . ''

`` Orbit '' eh ? Is that another deliberate clue ... no , I 'm not going down that road . I 'll stick to my own photographs instead . And if there is anyone out there with a good theory -LRB- conspiratorial or otherwise -RRB- about those we 'd love to hear from you .

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The British Film Institute is releasing the full 144-minute version of The Shining

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CNN 's Neil Curry found mysterious ` orbs ' on his family 's pictures of the hotel that helped inspire Stephen King to write the horror novel

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`` It 's amazing how this film invited speculation and fantasy in the audience , '' said the film 's executive producer Jan Harlan

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Neil Curry : If there is anyone out there with a good theory about the pictures we 'd love to hear from you